My Leafminer pics on Flickr

Monday, 23 November 2015

...or, recent success with mines of a couple of rare/uncommon Ectoedemia species in East Kent.

A few weeks ago, was very fortunate to find a single tenanted mine of Ectoedemia arcuatella on Fragaria vesca, Spinney Wood, Aylesham, East Kent. Apparently only the fourth record for Kent (second for East Kent, VC15) with the last back in 1975. This paucity of records had given rise to questions as to whether this should now be classified as an extinct, former resident of Kent. Certainly one worth looking out for.

More recently, also found tenanted mines of the pRDB3 species, Ectoedemia agrimoniae on Agrimony, North Downs Way, nr Patrixbourne, East Kent. Good numbers were present on a large clump of Agrimony, all with the characteristic cocoon inside the mine. This has less than 20 records in the Kent database, so is another one worth searching for.